In a corner of the teahouse beside the willow embankment, Li Yian was sitting anxiously drinking tea alone, waiting for the result.
After a long time, she saw Yue Pengju and his wife striding over. She immediately stood up and asked, "How is it?"
Hua Rong smiled and nodded, and explained Yue Pengju's method. After hearing this, Li Yian took a closer look at the man in front of him with broad eyebrows and a serious temper. Only then did he realize that he was different. From the moment he greeted his late return on the roadside His wife, and then handled this difficult matter with Wang Jixian so tactfully, she was chivalrous and very smart. Among the generals, there is such a character, especially his majestic calligraphy masterpiece "Give Me the River and the Mountain" .
The smile on her face was very kind, but she looked at Hua Rong. This woman was smart and kind, so she should be a blessed person.
She bowed deeply and said, "You two have been so kind to me. I can't repay you for your kindness."
Hua Rong hurriedly supported her: "Don't dare. It's just a little effort. I have admired you since I was a child..." She said, with the light of a little girl in her eyes. She took Li Yian's hand and said affectionately, "I have Here is an idea. We have a temporary villa in the suburbs that was rewarded by the emperor, and now there is another one in the capital. But Pengju will go to Ezhou soon, and I will leave with him. If you don’t want to give up, you might as well move to the villa. It’s good to have someone taking care of you…”
After Li Yi'an divorced Zhang Ruzhou, he really had no other place to go. He was traveling around the world and coveted by Wang Jixian and others from time to time. Seeing Hua Rong's sincere attitude, he agreed after a little hesitation.
When Hua Rong saw her promise, he was overjoyed and immediately sent someone to go back with her to pack her things. From then on, Li Yian ended his travel career and temporarily had a place to settle down.
Hua Rong sent several female envoys and old servants to take care of her. She was stranded in the capital and didn't have much to do, so she interacted with Li Yian every day. The two fell in love with each other very much, and they became friends forever. They talked about poetry and painting, and their days passed by unknowingly. Gotta go fast.
On this day, the four generals were summoned to the palace for a banquet.
Among the four generals, Liu Guangai pretended to be polite and wore the clothes of a Confucian scholar, while Zhang Jun, Han Zhongliang and others all wore the python robes of generals, while Yue Pengju was always frugal and still wore his own linen robes.
Before the banquet, everyone sat and talked and laughed. Han Zhongliang and Zhang Jun were both old subordinates of Wang Yuan. They knew each other well, and they were double relatives. In other words, Han Zhongliang's son married Zhang Jun's daughter. One of Zhang Jun's sons married a daughter of Han Zhongliang. Therefore, the relationship between the two was extremely close. They talked and laughed as soon as they sat down.
In contrast, Yue Pengju and Liu Guang could only sit there. Liu Guang had no friendship with Han Zhongliang and others, so he took the initiative to talk to Yue Pengju. The two chatted for a while.
After a while, the emperor's arrival was announced.
The four generals knelt on the ground together and said, "I wish you all the best."
Zhao Deji gave him the order to be freed, and then had a banquet.
This was the first time that Zhao Deji gathered the four major generals. He fled across the sea to his palace in Lin'an. It was only after the Miao and Liu rebellion that he truly felt that those in power were walking on thin ice.
Let’s talk about rewards for merit first. All four of them were named Jiedu envoys. This is the highest honor for military generals in this dynasty. Among them, Han Zhongliang stationed his army in Chuzhou, Liu Guang’s army stationed in Taipingzhou, and Zhang Jun’s army stationed his army to protect his health. Yue Pengju was the envoy of Jinghu South, North and Xiangyang Fulu, and the commander of Shenwu Houjundu. The imperial court sent aides to their respective armies, and the aide under Yue Pengju was the scribe Xue Bi.
After the four generals finished saluting, Zhao Deji spoke first, his voice full of emotion: "The merits of all the diligent kings belong to the country. In the troubled times of the country, the four beloved ministers and Wu Jie of Sichuan and Shaanxi are all the minions of the country. From now on, I can only rely on you to welcome back the country." The Second Sage revived the Song Dynasty. Now, there are Liu Yu's and Qi's rebel forces inside, and there are captives outside who are looking at you. What are your countermeasures?"
Liu Guang has always been lazy, supporting the enemy and playing bandits, especially the Miao-Liu mutiny. Due to insufficient preparation, the puppet Qi army occupied several states and counties, and abandoned his armor. Even though Yue Pengju mobilized Ezhou against orders to save his wife. When the army went south, only two states and counties were recovered, and the rest were still in the hands of the puppet Qi. Therefore, he could not answer Zhao Deji's questions at all, and only said that he was still thinking about it.
Then there is Zhang Jun. Because Zhang Jun participated in the battle of King Qin, he had always been the one to flee, but at this time he spoke loudly and said loudly: "The way of a general lies first in loyalty to the emperor and patriotism. I only know how to obey your majesty." As long as your Majesty gives the order to fight, how dare you not devote all your energy to die?"
In fact, Zhang Jun's words did not express any attitude, but they revealed a crucial message, that is, whether it was war or peace, he would listen to the emperor alone and would never make his own decisions.
The other generals did not understand the profound meaning here, but Zhao Deji felt very satisfied and nodded appreciatively to him.
It was Han Zhongliang's turn. He was another important general in the Song army. This time, King Qin was not idle when Yue Pengju went to kill Wu Zhan in the army. He led his men to chase the Miao and Liu rebels. Before the rebels arrived in Fujian, they They were all wiped out by him and made great contributions.
Then, Zhao Deji asked Yue Pengju again.
This is the first time the four of them have gotten together since the battle with King Qin. Yue Pengju is more than ten years younger than everyone else, but because of his outstanding achievements, he is already tied with the three generals. He knows that he was promoted too quickly and is afraid of causing trouble to others. He is jealous, so he is even more cautious, modest and prudent, but neither humble nor overbearing.
Zhao Deji said: "The general situation now is that in addition to the puppet Qi and the captives, there is also the Dongting water bandit disaster. From Pengju's perspective, what does it look like?"
Yue Pengju said: "The country is in a difficult situation, how can I dare to resign? I personally went to Huxiang to check the terrain. According to my opinion, the Dongting water thieves relied entirely on the deep rivers and lakes to operate boats and fight on land and water. Because of the deep obstruction of Dongting Lake, the officers and soldiers Troops are often sent out in autumn and winter when the water is low. At this time, water thieves are collecting food. Land raiders will sneak into the lake. Water raiders will land ashore and deal with the officers and soldiers skillfully. They use their strengths in water warfare to attack the weaknesses of the officers and soldiers. Therefore, it is always difficult for the officers and soldiers to win. If we change the use of troops in the hot summer and teach the water thieves not to farm on land and cut off the food routes, we may be able to win."
After hearing his detailed analysis, Zhao Deji also secretly praised Yue Pengju, saying that he would be able to compare with Yue Pengju.
Zhang Jun and others showed disapproval, and Han Zhongliang asked: "Yue Wu, the water-breaking thief, for what year and month?"
Yue Pengju said: "I am a low-ranking official without talent. Although I don't have a complete plan, I dare not delay the military situation. I am willing to wait until this autumn and winter."
After hearing this, Han Zhongliang poured himself a glass of wine and said, "I will drink a glass of wine for you today. If you are not a water thief in autumn and winter, I will punish you with a glass of wine."
Zhang Jun was already jealous of this young general, and he couldn't help but said in a sour tone: "Han Wu, if you fail to wipe out the water thieves in Qiu and Dong, I will also punish you with a drink."
Yue Pengju lowered his head and said nothing. As for the Dongting water thieves, Zhang Jun here once led the army to exterminate them, but failed. The reason why he proposed a one-year deadline was that he did not want to spend too much energy on dealing with the internal affairs, hoping to get It was his ideal to take the opportunity to make the Northern Expedition, truly fight against the Japanese, and recover the two rivers.
Zhao Deji was naturally very satisfied with Yue Pengju's answer, so he said: "In this case, I will give you a deadline in autumn and winter. I will wait for good news."
After the banquet was dismissed, Zhao Deji began to award rewards.
"All the ministers are the capital of the country, and I rely on them. Now I have given special favor to Han, Liu and Zhang Sanqing, and granted them the title of 'ruren', with five titles each. Mrs. Yue Qing has the special favor of the wife who protects the country."
Originally, the titles such as "Ruren" and "Mrs. of the State" bestowed by the emperor were aimed at the wives of civil servants and generals. However, Han, Liu, and Zhang all had wives and concubines. When these three people arrived in Lin'an, they went around looking for beautiful women in Lin'an. It is said that Han Zhongliang found a beautiful singer named Mao here and spent 5,000 yuan. Therefore, in addition to his wife, the beloved concubines often pestered their husbands to give them names. Utensil reward.
These three people all submitted memorials to request titles for their concubines. As soon as the memorials came up, they were unanimously opposed by the Minister of Rites, saying that the country's famous weapons should not be rewarded indiscriminately. But Zhao Deji now relies heavily on military commanders, so he naturally does not take these trivial matters seriously. , they followed the trend and agreed to their request.
For a moment, the four generals all fell to the ground to thank them, and the other three were all happy. Only Yue Pengju said: "I was born in a lonely and poor family, and when I met Your Majesty, I was honored by the military governor. How dare I exceed my limit? My wife Hua has already been married to the Queen Mother. I am still uneasy if your Majesty wants to add another title to the reward. I hope that your Majesty will return it as soon as possible to respect the status of the imperial court."
Yue Pengju's resignation increased Zhao Deji's favor, and he thought that Yue Pengju was not as greedy as the other three commanders.
But when the other three people heard this, they aroused public outrage, thinking that Yue Pengju was deliberately being obedient and making them look embarrassed. But in front of the emperor, they did not dare to say anything.
Zhang Jun, in particular, was even more jealous, thinking that Yue Peng was rumored to be good at lifting trees, but now it seems that he is the best at putting on a show and being a good boy.
Zhao Deji said: "In this Miao and Liu mutiny, Hua Rong has made great contributions even though she is a woman. How can I take back the reward? Pengju does not need to refuse."
After retreating from the court, the four of them walked out of the palace together. Since the house where Yue Pengju lived was far away from the three of them, he said goodbye to the three of them and said, "I am announcing my retirement to the three ministers. I wish you a safe journey."
Zhang Jun and Liu Guang politely returned the favor, but Han Zhongliang, who was upright and not good at hypocrisy, couldn't help but said angrily: "Yue Wu, you just resigned from the title of Lady of the State in the palace, didn't you mock them as concubines?" Please seal it?”
Yue Pengju had seen that the three people looked wrong, but he had discussed his resignation with his wife this time because the more rewards he received, the more unclear he was with the court. Hua Rong had already understood Zhao Deji after experiencing a life-and-death battle with Jin Wushu. With their mentality, they did not dare to have an overly optimistic view of their future path. They just wanted to fight for a few more years and retire in seclusion after the Northern Expedition was successful. Especially after meeting Lu Tiha, this desire became even stronger. The two of them did not want to He was greatly favored by Zhao Deji, and he was not willing to enter the palace again simply because of the reward. Unexpectedly, this refusal was met with suspicion by the three people. However, he naturally could not tell the reason.
Yue Pengju listened to his question and simply said: "Xiaoguan's wife is weak and weak-tempered. She does not want to be bound by famous weapons and will not ask for any rewards in the future. If you think that Xiaguan is pretending, you can supervise her."
Liu Guang once met Hua Rong. He mistook "Wei Qing, Huo Qubing" for a person named "Wei Qinghuo", which made Hua Rong secretly laugh. He was deeply impressed by Hua Rong, but when Yue Pengju said this, he nodded. , said with relief: "Mrs. Yue is certainly an extraordinary woman."